He may be the most fêted of French composer group Les Six but Poulenc was complex – half monk, half yob with a character full of self-doubt.

Berio managed that rare balance of pushing the boundaries of music while still remaining accessible to a wide audience. Explore the colourfully complex world of an avant-gardist who refused to follow the rules.

Daniel Jaffé explains how a ramble in the Essex countryside led Gustav Holst the composer of The Planets to a church with a charismatic vicar, who would go on to inspire several works.

Australia's finest musical minds tell us what they think makes our top 10 truly great.

He had rhythm, he had music… but for all his catchiness and easy-going charm, Gershwin deserves to be taken much more seriously.

Saint-Saëns has a reputation as the curmudgeon of French music. But his music is also passionate, daring and wickedly funny.

Melancholic French composer Ernest Chausson’s declared wish was “to write one page that enters the heart”. In fact, he wrote many.